//------------------------------// // First Response // Story: Counselor In The Forest // by RedBlack //------------------------------// Ugh. My head. Is it a hangover? I don't remember drinking anything. Not like I even had anything alcoholic to begin with. And I don't remember being sick either. Oh, it stopped. Also, was my bed always this uncomfortable? It's wet too. Shit, did I wet the bed or something? I'm way too old for that. And not old enough. With that last thought, I try to get up. "Fuck!" I yell with a dry voice as my entire body creaks from the motions of getting up. Taking heavy breaths, I calm down as my body feels like it hasn't moved for a full century. It is, WAY too stiff. I tried to open my eyes to assess my situation. That, does not help. Something was blocking my field of vision. I hadn't noticed it, but something was wrapped around my head, more specifically around my eyes, like a blindfold. Ok. Slowly does it. I slowly start moving parts of my body, trying to get my blood rushing. After a few minutes of small movement exercises, I could finally move my body without problems. With that, I move my hoof and touch around my eyes, feeling for what was blocking my vision. Lightly pulling from all sides, I see if it's drilled into my head or something. With the confirmation that it's just tied around my head, I give a tight pull and break it off. I immediately regret the move as I block the light from my eyes with my right hoof. Taking a few seconds to get my eyes used to the light, I stand up, albeit a bit shakily. "What the fuck?" Asking the question I probably should've asked earlier, I look around the unfamiliar surroundings. Plant life as far as the eye could see. The intense plant growth and trees only separated by about a step's distance. Giving a good, long, hard look around my area, I come to a single conclusion. "I have, no fucking idea where I am" Unluckily, I didn't have a biology teacher, or a teacher at all in fact, learned mostly from mom and dad. Sure, I'm a farmer so I know a thing or two about plants, but I'm not an expert in forestry. I don't even know what kind of forest I'm in. Great, I'm already talking to myself. Well, not like I haven't been doing that since Bright Idea left. Wonder how he's doing actually. Haven't heard from him in a while. Damn it, I'm getting off track. Stepping over the broken vines that had leaves attached to it, I try to explore the area. Try, being the keyword as I very quickly realize that there is something blocking my path. I know it's a spell of some kind. I'm no scholar when it comes to magic, but I'm pretty sure this is a barrier. It's invisible, but it pulsates light green wherever I touch it. I tried to go around it, following it until I reached a corner about a ten minute walking distance away. Fearing slightly at the implication, I follow the other wall and reach another corner about twenty minutes later. No fucking way. You gotta be joking with me. In the end, after sprinting and leaving several marks by knocking down thin trees and jumping over the same river twice, I come to the conclusion that I'm trapped. "FUCK!" I yell towards the sky, scaring away a few birds as my shout echoes back, annoying me slightly. I sit down on a tree root that grew out of the ground, holding my hooves in front of my face as I try to calm down. Ok, calm it. You're stuck here. But you're surrounded by flora, so you won't die unless you act stupid. So, make a plan, then act on it. First things first, securing food and water. I look around me, noting the plant life as I look at the ground. Although reluctantly, I take a bite out of the grass. Blegh, I'll need to wash off the dirt first. But the grass itself, seems fine. I also saw some berries somewhere, I can eat those if needed. Letting out a tired sigh, I move to the river I previously jumped over. I dip my hoof and give it a taste. I, think it's fine. Alright, tools next then. Trees, I should be able to make it work. As an earth pony, my hooves are more than enough to knock down the thinner trees. Find two rocks on the ground, preferably a solid rock with no visible flaws, then shape that rock with the other one. Use the sharpened rock to make a handle out of the thin trees. This one's too short. This one is way too thin. Ah, this could work. After five attempts, I finally break a tree into a long and thick handle. By softly pressing the sharpened stone into one end of the handle, I slowly and painfully carve a spot where I would put the stone in. Now I need something to tie it around. I look around. Plenty of low hanging vines. Breaking off one, I use it to tie it around the stone and wooden handle. There we go, makeshift axe. I, don't know what I'm going to do with this. I facehoof, realizing that I just made an axe without needing it. *Sigh* "Well, at least it's impossible for me to waste time" I say as I take a gulp of the river water. I grab another usable stone, shaping with the previous stone to get a knife. With a simple stone knife and axe, I take down a few trees and pluck their leaves. Break off all the branches, then take off the bark. An extremely tedious task I've found out, only made harder by the crappy tools I have. Taking off another splinter from my hoof, I finally put away the 4th tree as the moon hailed high into the sky, showing off the mare in the moon. Eating some berries I found in a bush, I calmly look at the moon. Good thing it's close to Summer, so the night will be bearable for now at least. Piling the leaves I pulled off, I lay down softly, almost immediately blacking out from tiredness. *Celestia POV* The sun hung high in the sky, lighting the land of Equestria. I, as the ruler, should be in day court, but have chosen to take a walk to clear my head. I silently tread through my old playground, reliving old memories of my sister. It's close. Only a week from now on, and she will be back. I have beared through the pain and guilt for close to a thousand years. I slightly wince at the thought, knowing that who comes back will not, only be my sister. I smile at the sight of a familiar tree. We used to have such a good time here, completely ignoring the problems around us. I give a slight chuckle at the irony. Ostracized by all three races, yet now I'm their ruler. Silently continuing my outing, I come across a peculiar sight. A barrier? I put my hoof on it, testing the strength. It's, pointless? I can easily pass through, without any resistance at all. I look at the barrier itself, seeing its complexities. Is it just an alarm spell? There's no force behind it, more specifically, there's nothing that the spell would do. Just what, is the point of this barrier? Passing through the barrier, my ears perk up as I hear the sound of something colliding against wood. A dull axe maybe? After a few teleports through the rather dense tress, I finally arrive at a clearing. This place is a lot denser than I remember. I look around the clearing, noting the amount of fallen trees. Or rather, what's left of them. There were quite a large amount of tree barks scattered on the ground. The technique seems rather crude, but what do I know about woodwork? Following the sound once more, I find a green pony repeatedly chopping a tree lengthwise with a stone axe. His coat started a deep green at his hooves, but got lighter as it traveled up. His mane was a full white with light green stripes barely visible on it. He had a single flower as a cutie mark, one that had more colors than I could name. I take on a disguise, not wanting to be treated like a gem right now. A simple light grey unicorn with a full white mane and a bouquet of flowers in a fancy pot for a cutie mark. Purposefully stepping on a branch, I alert him as he turns to me with a bored expression. "How did you?" he asked with furrowed brows as he dropped his axe. "Hello?" I greet casually. "Hi, mind telling me how you got past that barrier?" he quickly asked. "I, walked through?" I answer, a bit confused on why he himself is so confused. He just intently looks at me as his eyebrows furrow even more, clearly not understanding the situation. "Are you, able to leave through it then?" he asked me with widening eyes. Am I? "I haven't checked" "Check it now then" he said as he kept pushing me towards where I came from. Though rather rude of him, I complied as we quickly approached the barrier. There was a fallen tree right in front of it that I hadn't noticed before. Huh, pretty sure that wasn't there before. I reached the barrier and put a hoof on it. The same as before. I simply walked through it and turned to look at him. Huh. He's gone. I furrow my brows and walk back in. There he is. "What the fuck?" he said as rubbed his nose. I slightly flinch at his curse. I haven't heard somepony actually cuss in the last 800 years. He put his hoof on the barrier, not able to pass through it. Is he a prisoner here then? He suddenly punches the barrier, eliciting a burst of magic from the barrier that pushed him back. "Are you alright!" I run up to him as he rubbed his head. "I'm fine, it didn't hurt that much" he said and got up before I could help him. I release a relieved sigh. "Who are you again?" he asked. "Oh, I'm Ce-enter Piece" I catch myself. "Ce-enter Piece?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. "What an unfortunate name" "No, just Center Piece" "Oh, not that bad then, I'm Natural Remedy" he said and sat down on a random tree trunk. "It's great to meet you" "Likewise" I took a seat on a fallen tree as comfortable silence enveloped the area. "So, what's a mare like you doing here?" "Oh, just taking a normal walk, why do you ask?" "I just thought somepony like you would be having guards or something" he said without looking at me. He shouldn't know right? What gave it away? The barrier? No, I don't think that was his doing. As ten different thoughts go through my head, he suddenly looks at me. "If you wanted to hide your status, you probably shouldn't be wearing a crown" he said with a blank face. Ah. I put my hoof on my head, taking the crown off. I mentally kick myself for forgetting to hide the crown as I put it back on. "I, guess I should have" He chuckled, earning a sheepish smile for me. Then he started to full on laugh as a giant smile took his face. I gave my own chuckles as he started to loudly laugh, bellowing to the sky as tears rolled down his face. Soon enough, I just awkwardly stared at him. The sight sort of resembled my sister, whenever she got me with a good prank. He started to calm down as he wiped his tears away. "Ah, sorry, sorry, I've been alone for about 20 years now, with not much to do, even the most simple jokes become hilarious" he finished with a contented sigh. What? "You've been here for 20 years?" "Ah, no, I've been here for 3 days, I lived in a farm with my older brother until he left, he always talked about having this grand business idea, and that he would be back after hitting it big, though from his letters, it seemed like he just gained a stable living, though those letters stopped coming in almost 2 months ago" he said as a reminiscing look grew on his face. "I see" That's, a better situation then, isn't it? Though I can't help but wonder, does his brother truly care about him? Well, at least his brother stayed in touch. I should have done the same. I get rather sad with that thought. "Hey, you good?" he suddenly asked. "I'm fine, why?" "You seem sad, wanna talk about it?" Should I? I just look at him as I ponder the question over and over. "You know, I'm stuck here, so whatever you say won't get out" he urged me on. "Won't get out huh?" "Exactly, so won't you share your troubles with this humble stranger?" He said with a smug smile. I give a few chuckles as I think it over. Well, it couldn't hurt to hear some advice no? "My sister, she's finally, visiting, after not being able to for, 10 years" I tell him as I alter the truth. "Sounds nice" "It is nice, what's not is what she's bringing with her" "Oh, why does it bother you?" "It transformed her" "So you don't like the new her" "It's not her, it's that thing that made my sister, not so lovable anymore" "An addiction?" "You could say that" "Then the solution is pretty simple isn't it?" I look him in the eyes as he stared right back. "If she's truly addicted to something, you, as her family, should try to save her when the chance comes" he finished with a smile. "The answer is often more simpler than one makes it to be" I just silently stare at him as his words ring out in my head. Can it truly be that simple? "How" my voice involuntarily quivers. "Guide her, show her what's outside the little world she's put herself in" "What if she won't follow me?" "If you truly love each other, she'll follow you" ... Silence. I could think of nothing as his words rang out again and again. If we truly love each other. "Thank you" I simply say as we just sit inside the forest. As a comfortable silence had enveloped the area, he finally moved after about ten minutes. With a stretch, he groans as he turns towards his previous location. "Well, I still have a house to build, and somepony is probably worried about you no?" I chuckle as I imagine a scene about Raven having a meltdown over my disappearance. Ah, she's gonna give me an earful once I've returned. "Yeah, thank you for the impromptu therapy session" I say with a small smile. "It's fine, I can tell you needed a pony to talk to, don't be afraid to talk to your sister too, sounds like you two have some things to figure out" he said as he turned to me. "Yeah, I'll do that" He simply nodded, approving of my decision. Heh, it feels a bit weird being on the receiving end of it. "Well, it's certainly time for me to leave, but I'll visit you as soon as possible with extra supplies and such" "I'll be grateful, and it's been nice meeting you Ms. Center Piece" "Likewise Mr. Natural Remedy" I smile and walk back through the barrier. His advice, I'll listen to it. And I'll have some of the scholars to look into what sort of barrier that is. *Natural Remedy POV* Hmm. I wonder how a pony of, a seemingly high status, get such a complicated life. She hasn't told me everything, that's for sure, but how can I blame her, I'm just a stranger after all. Taking a large gulp of the spring water, I go back to tree chopping. I should really figure out how to boil the river water before I get sick or something.